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Sunday, May 11, 2008

The information found in the computers of the deceased leader of the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), Raúl Reyes, was not manipulated by Colombian authorities, according to an Interpol's report to be released next May 15, as disclosed by Bogota El Tiempo daily newspaper [...]

May 6th

US Senate Committee probes Chávez

he US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations ponders to penalize Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez if the ties between Venezuela and the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) are proven.

This is the main conclusion gotten from a document prepared by the Committee and disclosed by newspaper El Tiempo.com.

Such report recommends including Venezuela in the list of terrorist countries as the authenticity of Raúl Reyes' computer files was confirmed.

If this suggestion is accepted, "US legislators must ensure that the law is crafted carefully based on a flexible approach. Thus, it can guarantee that sanctions affect Chávez, and do not strengthen his chances to manipulate public opinion in his favor, both in Venezuela and South America," ElTiempo.com reported.

May 8th

Bush: Chávez turned Venezuela into a safe haven for FARC

"To counter the influence of an anti-US Venezuelan government," US President George W. Bush advised US Congress to endorse a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia. However, his motion is rejected by most Democratic Party members.

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe "is facing continued affront from the terrorist group called (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) FARC," said Bush. In his opinion, the Colombian government faces also the influence of an "anti-US neighbor, such as Venezuela," Efe reported [...]

May 9th

US Intelligence links Chávez with FARC

Officials of the US Intelligence think that the computer files that tie Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) are true and accurate, reported on Friday The Wall Street Journal.

The files, all of them of 2007, depict meetings between guerrilla commanders and Venezuelan government authorities, including Chávez, according to the daily, based on the review of more than 100 papers.

"There is complete agreement in the intelligence community that these documents are what they purport to be," a senior US official told the daily with regard to the files that, according to the Colombian government, were taken from the guerrillas following a raid to one of their camps.

The files indicate that Venezuela apparently made concrete offers to help arm the FARC, the daily said, and also the use of one of its ports to receive arms shipments. In another document, a high-ranking official asked FARC to train Venezuelan military in guerrilla warfare.

Interpol to disclose report of authentication of Reyes' computer

Interpol is to submit next Thursday, May 15th, to Colombian authorities a public report and findings on its forensic analysis of the informational material seized from the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), followed by a press conference.

Previously, the Colombian authorities will receive the confidential version of the report.

Pursuant to an agreement executed with Colombia on March 12th in Bogotá, the Interpol aid would include sending a crisis management taskforce to Bogotá in order to get exact copies of the data contained in three laptops, three USB keys and two external drives. Afterwards, they would conduct an independent analysis of the data, said the agency website.

Santos: FARC is in Venezuela and nothing happens

Colombian intelligence agencies found that a chief of the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) is present in Venezuelan territory and despite having conveyed "many times" that information to President Hugo Chávez' government "nothing happens," said Colombian Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos.

Rebel chief Iván Márquez, the successor of FARC second-in-command Raúl Reyes -who was killed by Colombian troops during a raid in Ecuador last March 1st- "is in Venezuela. Many times have we provided the coordinates and the information (to the Venezuelan government) and nothing happens," Santos lamented.